87 social housing projects to test innovative low carbon technologies

Peta Hodge

25th February 2010

The effectiveness of a range innovative new low carbon technologies, many of which have been developed by SMEs, are to be tested in 87 social housing projects across the UK, with the aim of making them carbon neutral.

The ‘Retrofit for the Future’ project – which is backed by £17 million of Government funding – is being delivered through the Technology Strategy Board’s Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), a procurement scheme to encourage all businesses, but particularly SMEs, to engage with government departments and be prepared for future government procurement policy.

According to project manager at the SBRI, Neil Morgan, 63 per cent of the social landlords, architects and construction companies selected for the project are SMEs – as are many of the suppliers they have chosen to work with.

One of these suppliers is a micro-company with just five employees, Wattbox Ltd, which has been enabled by the project to launch its intelligent heating system that constantly learns the residents’ living patterns and ensures hot water and heating programmes match the occupant’s lifestyle.

The Wattbox will be installed in around 20 of the 87 sites, including 14 Prince Rupert Road, Eltham, London, where Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Drayson, will officially launch the project later this morning.

The retrofit of 14 Prince Rupert Road, Eltham is the project of social landlord The Hyde Group, whose award winning Retrofit and Replicate project in Mottingham achieved an 80 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions. ECD Architects have planned what technology will be used in the property and Mears Group will be responsible for installing it.

Eltham project uses innovative new technologies

A particular challenge for the Eltham property is that it is in a conservation area. Pioneering vacuum glazing, which reduces heat loss without the need for thick, air filled double glazing, is one of the ways the project will reconcile the competing claims of conservation and carbon reduction.

Other key features of the retrofit will include a substantial improvement in insulation, using innovative natural materials to help control moisture levels and heat recovery in high temperature areas such as kitchens and bathrooms.

There will also be an air-tightness strategy, which will see existing vents and chimneys blocked, floors and ceilings insulated, and walls coated with modified plaster.

The Eltham project, along with the 86 others, will each receive £142,000 to demonstrate deep cuts in carbon emissions and exemplar energy efficient measures.

The TSB says the level of funding is specifically designed to stimulate the implementation of innovative, proof of concept demonstrator houses that may offer cost effective solutions for wider role out across the UK.

The performance of each demonstrator house will be evaluated by the Energy Saving Trust for at least two years.

David Bott, director of innovation programmes at the Technology Strategy Board added: “At least 80 per cent of the houses we’ll be living in by 2050 have already been built. So it is critical that we look at ways to dramatically improve the performance of our existing housing stock.

“Retrofit for the Future provides the testbeds we need to ensure the development of long-term, mass solutions. This initiative has seen the retrofit market come together, with social landlords, local councils, architects and other specialist suppliers developing a range of high performance and cost effective prototype solutions.”

SMEs best placed to deliver breakthrough solutions

Mark Glover, head of SBRI, added that big problems like making the existing housing stock carbon neutral, needed breakthrough solutions and that SMEs, particularly start-ups, are often best placed to deliver the innovative solutions required.

It was up to the SBRI, he said,to give such companies access to government departments and contracts, through initiatives like Retrofit for the Future.